Shipping container



July 15, 1924.

G. B. MACDONALD SHIPPING CONTAINER Filed Nov. 30, 1923 w gl'NvENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented July 15, 1924.

PATENT @FFEQE.

GEORGE B. MACDONALD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE FIBERLOI'D COB,- PQRATION, OF INDIAN ORCHARD, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TIO1\T OF MASSACHUSETTS.

SHIPPING CONTAINER.

Application filed November 30, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE B. MACDON- ALD. a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Shipping Containers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in shipping containers and particularly to devices that are also adapted to be used as display devices for the articles shipped.

The device is applicable for general use but one use for which I have found the device particularly adapted is in connection with articles that are assembled in sets, such as toilet sets and the like.

It is desirable to ship such articles in a container that is also adapted for use as a display device, but such devices as have heretofore been used have many objectionable disadvantages when used as a combined shipping container and a display tray. That is, a tray made for properly displaying the articles by reason of its artistic characteristics, has not been of rigid construction and has not'been adapted to hold the articles from jarring during shipment. On the other hand, such shipping containers as have been properly constructed for shipping purposes have not been sufficiently artistic to serve as a proper display device.

Accordingly, it is the object of this invention to provide a device that is adapted to contain a set of articles for shipment, and which device will be of such an artistic nature that it may also be used for display purposes.

The form of the invention at present preferred will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig, 1 is a plan view of the container; and

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

1 represents a box or tray that preferably comprises a fiat sheet 2 of cardboard or any other. suitable material and an upper tray portion 3 that may be provided with a plurality of depressions 4. The said tray 3 is provided with straight sides 5 that terminate in an extending flange 6 that is contiguous to the sheet 2. The said sides 5 are preferably adapted to receive the sides 7 of the cover 8 while the flange 6 serves as an abut- Serial No. 677,856.

ment for the edges of the said cover sides 7. The depressions at may be of any size or shape desired, but are preferably of such a size as to receive and embrace the sides of an article and are of such a depth that the upper sides of the articles are in a plane that is above that of the upper side of th member 3.

The sheet 2 and member 3 are preferably secured together as by gluing or the like, and the whole covered by a decorative material, such as cover paper. The tray serves to support and position the articles during shipment and may be used as a means of displaying the same as may be desired.

The cover 8 is preferably much deeper than the member 7 and may also be made of cardboard or the like. It is provided with sides 7 that embrace the shoulders 5 of the tray previously referred to, the edges of which abut the flange 6 whereby the top of the cover is supported at a distance from the tray. A box-like member 9 is carried within the cover and has its side walls 10 adjacent the inner sides of the walls 7 of the cover 8. The member 9 is preferably so constructed that its flat article engaging side 11 is spaced away from the flat top side of the cover, as shown. The said member 9' is preferably secured to the cover 8 by gluing or the like, and the whole may be covered by any suitable decorative cover material. Guides 1:2 comprising rectangular blocks are secured to the under side of the member 9 and are preferably so located that they engage the sides of the articles carried in the depressions of the tray. These guides may be fixed to the member 9 inany suitable manner, and their location will be governed by the size and shape of the article that they are to engage.

A depression 13 may also be formed in the member 9 the inner walls of which are adapted toembrace the sides of. the article indicated at B, and function as do the guides 12 to hold the said article in its supporting and positioning depression.

As many of the depressions may be employed as desired and will-be governed by the characteristics of the article for which the container is to be used.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious that the articles are supported and positioned in depressions that tend to hold them from displacement and that the cover bears against and guides the said article to retain them in their respective depressions during shipment.

I am aware that many changes may be made in the form of the invention Without departing from the scope thereof and I therefore prefer not to be limited by the foregoing description, but rather'by the following claim.

hat I claim is:

The combination ina shipping container of a receptacle and a cover therefor. the said receptacle comprising a flat base member, a tray having vertical side walls provided with horizontal flanges that overlie and are secured to the base at the marginal edges thereof, the said tray being provided with depressions in its upper side for positioning articles and supporting the same at a distance above the base, the said cover comprising vertical side walls that engage the vertical side walls of the tray and that abut the upperside of the horizontal flanges thereof and an inverted tray having side walls that interfit the side walls of the cover and that abut the upper wall thereof to retain the face of the tray at a distance from the said cover, the said tray being provided with a depression and guides that are adapted to embrace the articles in the depressions of the first named tray to hold them from displacement thereon.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

GEORGE B. MACDONALD. 

